PANAJI: A full-fledged plastic surgery and burns department at the Goa Medical College (GMC) and Hospital will be commissioned on Friday. On an average, the GMC receives 15-20 severe burn cases a month and there was a growing demand to set up a separate burns ward in the 1,500-bedded hospital.A GMC official said that a dedicated ward for people suffering from burns will be able to give victims more attention and care; particularly those with 40% and more burns need to be kept isolated to protect them from infections.Earlier, burns patients shared the surgery ward and there was no dedicated ward for female patients. The GMC official said that though patients with severe burn injuries were kept separately earlier too, “a dedicated ward will help the staff take better care of patients”.As observed elsewhere in the country, he said that the proportion of female patients is higher than male patients. Most of the cases are reported as accidents. “We still get cases of women suffering burn injuries while in the kitchen. The most common cause is stove bursts,” he said.Some cases of burns involving men are primarily accident cases wherein burns are sustained in factories. The hospital also receives cases involving children who get burn injuries by accident.Besides treating burns patients, the department is also well-equipped to conduct hair transplants. The GMC official said most of the new recruits to the department are in the process of joining and they are hopeful of making it a successful department.The commissioning of the plastic surgery department has been delayed for over four years. Things did not move along the expected lines even as GMC authorities had declared its intention of opening the department.In his budget speech in March 2017, chief minister Manohar Parrikar had proposed to establish the-state-of-art burns unit with ultra-modern equipment and machinery at GMC. Parrikar had also promised to appoint trained doctors to offer round-the-clock service.

Stay updated with all the Latest Goa headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.